“I was called Marwan No-Cash and Marwan Cash-Cow. My name is Marwan Koukash and I mean business.”
Entertaining. Impressive. Bizarre. Yesterday’s event, announcing new owner Salford City Reds Dr Marwan Koukash’s plans and signings for the 2014 Super League season, just about had it all.
Jokes, casino blueprints, Martin Luther King references, a blast at rival club coaches. Koukash is nothing if not a character, someone with big plans, a big mouth and a big wallet to back them up.
And God, doesn’t Super League need it.
While the NRL is flying along, awash with cash, stars, sponsors and a huge broadcasting deal, its English cousin is struggling.
It has no major sponsor, several of its clubs are struggling financially and many of its best products are heading down under.
Enter flamboyant and a little eccentric Palestinian businessman Marwan Koukash. The migrant to the UK, multimillionaire and horse-racing owner bought the Salford City Reds earlier this year.
Koukash has wasted little time in stirring the Super League pot, calling for a raise in the salary cap and announcing his plans to make Salford the biggest rugby league club in the world.
Yesterday some of that started to come to fruition.
Already Koukash has changed the club’s name – they have gone back to their traditional nickname of the Red Devils – hired a veteran coach in Brian Noble and brought in some big-name players.
These included England internationals Adrian Morley, Rangi Chase and Gareth Hock, former Parramatta and Cronulla halfback Tim Smith, and current NRL players Junior Sa’u from the Storm, Steve Rapira from the New Zealand Warriors and Jake Mullaney from the Eels.
Thrown in experienced veterans Tony Puletua and Francis Meli, who both had successful careers in the NRL, and Salford has some squad.
Chase and Smith at 6 and 7 give them arguably Super League’s best halves combination, while Hock, Puletua, Morley and Martin Gleeson give them size and experience in the forwards.
They’ve even been linked with an audacious offer to Sonny Bill Williams.
But Koukash is not done yet, and is promising this is just the beginning. It is all part of his ‘Red Devilution’, which is how Thursday’s event was branded to media and supporters.
As far as sports pressers go, it was more entertaining and funny than most.
Koukash, who you could say is more in the Russell Crowe-mode of rugby league club owners, but enjoys being in the press a tad more, was probably the star attraction.
There are some similarities with Salford and South Sydney under the Crowe era. Both high-profile and wealthy, both ambitious and passionate, both trying to turn old clubs around and bring new glory.
Crowe took over the Rabbitohs in 2006 and in 2013 they are now one of the NRL’s heavyweights. Koukash wants Salford to be one of the favourites in 2015.
He started off the event with a long speech, where he denied Salford had approached contracted players illegally.
“The days that other so-called big clubs came and took our best talent have gone,” Koukash said.
He then denied Salford had gone over the salary cap, despite his attemtps to recruit an All-Star style Super League line-up.
“I haven’t paid any of the wives and I have no intention of doing so, except my wife.”
Koukash went to make a joke about gelding Rangi Chase – the horse named after the prominent player, not the former St George Illawarra Dragons half himself – and compared rugby league to horse-racing.
“He’s got an issue, he loves the ladies too much and doesn’t concentrate on his job. So we’re going to have to get him gelded…. No you don’t understand, I’m talking about the horse.”
Mixing humour with seriousness again, Koukash also unveiled plans to build a casino, bars, restaurants, a water park and shopping malls around Salford’s stadium, to help build and grow the club and its fan-base.
Eventually he got to the signings where Hock, Smith and Chase were on show. Here’s what they had to say:
Overall the event was funny, a tad different but just what Super League needs – someone to shake it up, bring the razamataz and get people talking. Koukash does that.
It was unlike a press conference you would get in the more staid, media-unfriendly NRL.
Salford is a proud club from the Greater Manchester area with a long history but has struggled in recent times. Koukash wants to change all that.
He not only wants to give Salford success, but bring more money into rugby league in the UK and help grow the sport in general.
Now we wait and see if the good Doctor can pull it off. Regardless if he can, Super League should be thankful he is out there giving it a go.
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